Palestine seeks to increase annual trade exchange with Jordan to $500mn: official

Ramallah, Dec 13 (IANS) Palestine is seeking to increase the annual trade exchange with Jordan to $500 million, state authorities have announced.

"Palestine seeks to raise the volume of trade with Jordan following understanding reached recently between the two sides," Amjad Ghanem, Palestinian Authority cabinet's Chief of Staff, told the media on Sunday.

On Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye and his Jordanian counterpart Bisher al-Khasawneh chaired the meetings of the sixth session of the Jordanian-Palestinian joint higher committee, Xinhua news agency reported.

The meetings, which were held in the West Bank city of Ramallah, resulted in signing nine memoranda of understanding and executive programs, including cooperation in fields such as social development, culture and education, as well as free zone and electronic connection between the two sides, according to the Palestinian news agency.

According to official Palestinian reports, Jordanian exports to the Palestinian market amounted to $152.2 million in 2020, down by 6.3 per cent in 2019.

Meanwhile, Palestinian exports to the Jordanian market totaled $50.5 million in 2020, up by 6.4 per cent in 2019.